What Indiana Coach Mike Woodson Said After 64-62 Loss At Northwestern

Hear from Indiana basketball head coach Mike Woodson following the No. 14 Hoosiers' 64-62 road loss to Northwestern Wednesday night. Read his full transcript, or just watch the attached video.

EVANSTON, Ill. — Northwestern guard Boo Buie ended Indiana's hopes of a miraculous comeback with a game-winning floater in the final seconds to secure a 64-62 win. 

Here's what Indiana coach Mike Woodson said after the game. 

QUESTION: Can you talk about Northwestern's last shot? Did you feel there was a travel or push off on that shot?

MIKE WOODSON: The officials didn't call it so at the end of the day, Boo made a hell of a shot. You have to give him credit. They get us down 19, you can't spot a team at home 19 and expect to win all the time. I thought we fought hard in the second half to get back in it, so I applaud our team. But we just got off to such a rocky start on the road, and I just I thought we were too hyped, pumped for the game. I just didn't see the comfort starting this ball game. It showed, we couldn't make shots and we were throwing the ball all over the gym so that's what led to the 19-point lead.

Q: How much did you see your team get better in that second half finding ways into the offense not just through Trayce and not just throwing it in places where they could double him more?

WOODSON: Well, I tried to give them some movement early, but we missed shots. Listen, the double team is inviting. It really is, you just got to – Trayce struggled to make the passes out of there early on, and I thought in the second half he was dropping passes off where they needed to be dropped. Again, I mean we've seen traps all year, and it's not going to change. We've just got to make the right reads out of it.

Q: Only 20 points in the first half and no made threes. What did you feel the biggest issues were for you guys, offensively?

WOODSON: Well, Miller had a couple good, open looks and we missed shots. The first 10 possessions, I bet we had five or six turnovers. You can't run offense that way, it's impossible. You're just giving it back to the other team, and they were scoring and we weren't getting stops. That was the difference.

Q: Race had 13 [points] tonight. What was he doing differently that he wasn't doing in the past games when he might have been struggling?

WOODSON: Guys, he's been hurt. You know, I mean I thought he played great tonight, you know, considering he's been out. He hadn't really been playing. He hadn't been practicing, so today was the first time. It was a game-time decision, and the young man told me that he felt good enough to play and I thought he gave us some positive minutes.

Q: You said they were too hyped before the game. Do you think they were too tight?

WOODSON: Yeah I thought so, not in a tight way. I just think they overly hyped. I just think that they felt really good about coming into this game and sometimes that can be against you. I mean, you're doing things that you shouldn't be doing and that's what happened. Like I said, I bet we had five or six turnovers in the first 10 possessions and we couldn't make a shot and we couldn't get any defensive stops. So I mean, it was an ugly first half.

Q: What were your conversations like with Miller Kopp throughout the game? He was kind of the target of a lot of scrutiny.

WOODSON: Well I mean, man, listen. All you do is tell a guy like Miller, 'Hey, look. You're wearing an Indiana uniform. The best way you can make them shut up is you punish them.' And he made a few shots. You know, he struggled to shoot the ball and he's done that here the last two years. But hey, we've got to move on and get ready for Illinois now.

Q: Were you happy with the intensity in the first half, and I guess is there anything you can do to kind of make sure guys are doing that?

WOODSON: No, I wasn't real – our intentions were good, but like I said you can't turn the ball over five of your first 10 possessions and not get stops and you're still missing shots behind the turnovers. I mean, that's a bad combination, man. You can't win games like that. To get back down 19 and to be able to get back in it and have a shot at the end says a lot about the character of our ball club, but you can't do that on the road. These teams are too good in the Big Ten.

Q: What makes their guards so effective against your defense today and also throughout the season?

WOODSON: You know, they're good one-on-one players. They're great off the bounce in terms of being able to break you down. If they don't play in space, which I don't think we allowed them to do tonight, we kept letting them get to their strong hand and that's on us from a defensive standpoint. We're trying to trigger where all the flow is and the traffic to give you help, and if you let them get the other way, that's on us as a team.

Q: Procedurally, as you got an explanation from the officials, what was the sequence on the two technicals in the first half?

WOODSON: I'm not even going to comment on it. I mean, at the end of the day he made the calls, and those were critical when I look at it. I told my team I've got to take the hit for this, for the technicals. But we still, getting down 19, that hurts. And the fact that we fought back, I was happy about that, but I'm not even going to comment on the officials in that case. I'm not.

Q: Audige had three points on 1-for-9 shooting in the second half. What did you see from your guys in how they kind of isolated him and tried to shut him down?

WOODSON: Well, I mean he had it going early, and I was over there fussing and fighting like, 'Somebody's got to guard this young man.' I thought we did a really good job in the second half on him, but Boo, Boo was the guy in terms of being able to make the big plays down the stretch for them. He was the guy.

Related stories on Indiana basketball

• GAME STORY: Indiana made a valiant comeback in the second half of Wednesday's game against Northwestern at Welsh-Ryan Arena, but Boo Buie's game-winner sealed a 64-62 victory for the Wildcats. CLICK HERE
• WHAT JACKSON-DAVIS, THOMPSON SAID: Indiana veteran forwards Trayce Jackson-Davis and Race Thompson spoke with the media after a 64-62 loss at Northwestern on Wednesday. Here's what they said. CLICK HERE
• 'WE'RE THE BEST BACKCOURT IN THE COUNTRY': Senior guards Boo Buie and Chase Audige led Northwestern to wins over No. 1 Purdue and No. 14 Indiana this week, combining for 76 points across the two games. "I think we're the best backcourt in the country," Audige said after the Wildcats 64-62 win over Indiana. CLICK HERE
• COLLINS ON VULGAR CHANS AT KOPP: Following Northwestern's 64-62 win over Indiana, coach Chris Collins commented on the vulgar chants directed at Miller Kopp, who transferred from Northwestern to Indiana before the 2021-22 season. CLICK HERE
• PHOTO GALLERY: Take a look at 20 photos from Indiana's 64-62 loss at Northwestern. Down by more than 20 points in the first half, the No. 14 Hoosiers barely fell short in a huge second half comeback. CLICK HERE
• WATCH TJD'S SLICK PASS TO THOMPSON Watch this highlight of Indiana forward Trayce Jackson-Davis's pass to fellow forward Race Thompson, who puts it up for two in the Hoosiers' game versus Northwestern. CLICK HERE
• WATCH WOODSON AND HOOSIER BENCH GET TWO TECHNICALS Watch this replay of Indiana basketball's bench and head coach Mike Woodson receiving two technical fouls in the first half of the Hoosiers' matchup with Northwestern Wednesday night. CLICK HERE
• WATCH JORDAN GERONIMO'S DUNK ON WILDCATS Watch this replay of Hoosier forward Jordan Geronimo dunking on Northwestern for the lead Wednesday night. CLICK HERE